Codey foresees 7-to-10 day stint as acting governor

State Senate President Richard Codey, who served 14 months as Acting Governor after James E. McGreevey resigned in scandal in 2004, said he envisions having to serve as Acting Governor for the next seven to 10 days in the wake of Gov. Jon Corzine's serious injuries from a traffic accident last evening.

ARIS ECONOMOPOULOS/THE STAR-LEDGERActing Gov. Richard Codey leaves his Essex County house this morning. This is the third time Codey, the state Senate president, has assumed the duties of acting governor.

Codey, in an interview a little after 8:30 this morning, said that when he stepped outside to retrieve his newspaper this morning, he was surprised to see news trucks camped outside his house in West Orange.

Last night, doctors at Cooper University Hospital in Camden said it could be weeks before Corzine can resume his governor's duties. The 60-year-old governor underwent about two hours of surgery last night to repair multiple broken bones, including 12 ribs and a femur that protruded through the skin of his thigh, following a car accident on the Garden State Parkway in Galloway Township.

Corzine, who is on sedatives and painkillers, is in critical but stable condition at Cooper University Hospital. Doctors have inserted a breathing tube down his throat that won't be removed until he can breathe on his own. Anthony Coley, a spokesman for the governor, said there is no brain damage or spinal damage.

More surgery is expected tomorrow and Monday.

Meanwhile, State Police continue to look for a red pick-up truck believed to have caused the accident.